Today I have the privilege of sharing the inspirational story of Jimmy Lubonski, who became a CrossFit Kent Island coach in July 2021 and has quickly become a fan favorite in both the CFKI community and beyond. His incredible accomplishment of completing “Murph” every day for a full year garnered the interest of the entire fitness world, and he has appeared on multiple popular podcasts and been featured in articles celebrating his achievement and also bringing awareness to physical and mental health in the first responder community, which has become Jimmy’s mission. He continues that mission now with a full year of Hero workouts, each one dedicated to a different service member that died on that date years ago.
In addition to being tremendously tough, Jimmy is a talented athlete and loves to train. He is very self-aware of his strengths and weaknesses as an athlete, and is diligent at eliminating his weaknesses to become the most well-rounded CrossFit competitor he can be.
This translates well into his workout programming and onsite coaching at CFKI, where he has developed a Strength and Conditioning class that is by all accounts challenging but also fun, and a great environment to get stronger, faster, and tougher. Sounds like three things we could all improve on!
Here’s Jimmy in his own words:
I started doing CrossFit in my garage as a way to stay fit for my job as a police officer in the DC area. Eventually, I found myself at CrossFit Kent Island, where I quickly became a regular and was encouraged to get my CrossFit Level 1. In 2021, I decided to attempt 30 days of “Murph” Rx as a way to bring awareness to the importance of physical and mental health in the first responder community, as well as to honor LT Mike Murphy. During this time there was a large outpouring of support from first responders and military members who stated that I had inspired them to start taking their fitness seriously. 30 days quickly turned into 365 consecutive days of Murph. I went on to complete Murph 365 RX on Memorial Day 2022. On June 14th, I started my newest challenge of “Hero 365” where I will attempt to complete 365 consecutive days of Hero WODs honoring the military member, police officer, or firefighter on the day they gave the ultimate sacrifice for us. For me, the whole purpose of these Hero WODs are to honor those men and women through hard work and also to inspire other military members and first responders to take their fitness seriously, as it will no doubt save them in the line of duty. The stories of these heroes motivate me to give my all and I can’t think of a better way to get our military and first responders moving. During the run for Murph 365 I was able to start FIT 4 DUTY FOUNDATION with another officer. Fit 4 Duty’s mission is to fund first responders’ CrossFit monthly membership at their local affiliate.
My favorite part about coaching is knowing that I play a part in someone’s mental and physical health. Seeing the joy on someone’s face when they achieve something they never thought possible is an amazing feeling.
Thank you, Jimmy, for being an AWESOME part of our CFKI community. Just like all of our coaches, Jimmy brings a unique voice and approach to coaching. And just like all of our coaches, he is committed to teaching and mastering the fundamentals, and then challenging his athletes to constantly improve. Jimmy inspires us through his actions and reminds us through his coaching that the sky is the limit!
Jimmy coaches the 6am CrossFit class on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, the 10am CrossFit class on Tuesday, and the 4:30pm CrossFit class on Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday. He also programs and coaches the Strength and Conditioning class, which meets at 5:30pm on Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday. Jimmy generally trains at Open Gym time, weekdays at 11am-1pm. Come get a great training session in with Jimmy!
Ryan